The Girls in the Snow (Nikki Hunt #1) - Stacy Green Page 0,50

off, and one day, things went too far. It went on for months, but Hardin caught them after a while.”

“That is—” She couldn’t get the words out.

“Relevant,” Rory said. “Hardin busted Mark for possession of weed two days later—weed that Mark had never seen. Mark spent two weeks in jail. Few months later, he’s in the wrong place at the wrong time and Hardin’s the officer in charge. You honestly think he’s going to be impartial?”

“Hardin wasn’t the only cop…” Nikki’s voice faltered. Someone else had collected the evidence, which meant Hardin hadn’t worked the case alone. “Of course Mark’s going to say all of this, but it doesn’t mean you should believe him,” Nikki said.

“Hardin and Marie got divorced six years ago. She confirmed everything. If you read the case file, you’ll see why Patsy Moran believes Mark.”

Nikki’s head spun. She was able to tell herself the new evidence was a mistake, that she was drug tested, that her own testimony was reliable. But she’d never considered any of these motivations before. Had Hardin really railroaded Mark Todd for revenge? “Mark was there. No one else had motive.”

“Hardin never looked for anyone. And that’s not all—”

“I’ve heard enough.” Nikki needed space to think and she needed to focus on Kaylee and Madison. This wasn’t why she’d come back to Stillwater, and she wasn’t going to let anyone else be killed because she couldn’t handle her emotions. She put a ten-dollar bill on the table and stood. “I need to get some rest. I have the double homicide of two teenaged girls to focus on. I can’t be distracted, I’m sorry.” She hurried out of the bar, fighting tears.

“Nicole, wait.”

She didn’t stop walking, but Rory’s long legs easily surpassed her stride and blocked her path.

“Why are you telling me all of this, Rory? If you believe Mark’s innocent, then you should hate me, and it doesn’t matter if I’m aware of all of this or not. I can handle you hating me.” Much better than she could handle his kindness.

“Maybe I’m weak. That’s what Newport said when I refused her interview about your being back in town.” Rory stepped into her space, close enough that she could smell the sweet scent of his laundry powder. “You were a traumatized kid. When it comes out that the DNA doesn’t match Mark, you’ll be the scapegoat. You aren’t the bad guy. You lost your parents. Hardin and anyone who helped him screw my brother are the ones who need to be held accountable. And they will be. And you forgot your coat.”

“Thank you.” Nikki looked up into his green eyes. He was taller than she’d realized. She pulled her coat on and walked to her jeep.

“Drive safe,” Rory said.

She waved her hand without looking back. The jeep’s cold engine sputtered to life. Nikki didn’t wait for it to warm up, driving too fast out of the parking lot, finally letting the tears fall.

Seventeen

Nikki gave up on sleeping around 3:00 a.m. Between her dreams and everything Rory had said, her exhausted brain wasn’t sure what it actually remembered.

She made a pot of coffee and sat down at the little table next to the hotel window. Miller planned on searching Hanson’s house this morning, but she didn’t think he’d find anything. He’d also said Hanson’s mistress had backed his alibi, and St. Paul police confirmed the two of them had been at the hotel the afternoon the girls disappeared.

Madison and Kaylee had gone with their killer willingly, Nikki was certain. Two capable teenaged girls weren’t abducted off a trail right behind several houses. Ricky had an alibi, and if he had somehow been involved, his ego was too big for him to stay quiet. He was the type to skulk around the investigation, getting off on outsmarting the cops. Bobby Vance didn’t have a car, and Miller had already confirmed Mindy was visiting friends in the city that day. Bobby had taken the picture, but that had been several weeks before Madison and Kaylee disappeared. Had Kaylee started dating someone else?

Liam still hadn’t found any suspects with access to industrial freezers other than Drew Hanson, and they didn’t have enough evidence for a warrant. All of the sex offenders he’d found recently released nearby had iron-clad alibis. And Nikki was going to have to tell him that she still didn’t have Kaylee’s phone number—tracking it seemed less and less likely.

Nikki felt like they’d focused a lot on Kaylee, but she couldn’t stop thinking about